A Waggaman man was convicted as charged Wednesday (Sept. 12) of the simple rape of an admitted drug addict who said the man she considered a trusted friend sexually abused her as she attempted to sleep off a days-long narcotics binge.
Larry Marcel, 63, faces up to 25 years in prison for raping the 35-year-old woman in his Rosalie Drive apartment on Dec. 5, 2014. The victim, now age 37, testified Tuesday that she had known Marcel about 10 years, “occasionally” using drugs with him and having dated one of his brothers.
She said she never had a sexual relationship with Marcel. “I trusted him, definitely,” she testified.
On the night in question, however, she said Marcel let her “detox” in his bed in an attempt to cleanse her body of the narcotics. A couple that was visiting the apartment wanted to use that bedroom, so the victim testified that she moved to a guest room and returned to sleep.
She testified that at one point, she woke feeling “a very uncomfortable pain, a sharp pain,” later learning the tampon she was using was pushed up inside her body.
“As soon as I flinched, he flinched, and he rolled over like he was sleeping,” the victim testified.
She left the room, found a phone and called her mother to pick her up. She didn’t call police until Dec. 16, 2014, 11 days after the rape. “I didn’t know if anybody would believe me … because I’m an addict,” she testified.
Marcel denied raping her, saying in one of his several contradictive statements to detectives that it was consensual. His defense team asserted she gave likewise gave numerous contradictions in her statements about the crime.
After the rape was reported, an acquaintance of the victim came forward, telling the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office case detective, Kay Horne, that Marcel sexually abused her under similar circumstances during the summer of 2013. She said she never reported it because she didn’t want her family to learn of it. The judge allowed the District Attorney’s Office to use the evidence in the trial against Marcel, but that woman declined to testify.
Judge Conn Regan of the 24th Judicial District Court set the sentencing hearing for Sept. 30.
Assistant District Attorneys Lynn Schiffman and Douglas Rushton prosecuted the case.
